Are you interested in the study of trust, distrust and acceptance of AI-based healthcare technologies? Would you like to investigate processes of trust and distrust as these shape adoption of technologies delivering mental-health-oriented personalized communication?
Urban identities, trust and distrust in understanding technology acceptance
TheCentre for Urban Mental Health(FMG section),Department of Anthropology, Department of Sociologyand theAmsterdam School of Communication Sciencesat the University of Amsterdam are looking to appoint a postdoctoral researcher who will work on the research project Urban identities, trust and distrust in understanding technology acceptance, led by Patrick Brown, Christian Bröer, Kristine Krause, Nida Gizem Yilmaz, and Julia van Weert, and funded by the Centre for Urban Mental Health.
The Centre for Urban Mental Health is a large interdisciplinary research priority area of the University of Amsterdam, in which researchers aim to identify new pathways to improve mental health in the city. Within the Centre for Urban Mental Health several personalized interventions are being developed, such as a chatbot intervention for delivering easily accessible personalized mental-health communication to people with mental health problems from minoritised ethnic groups in large Dutch cities. Your post-doc project will use in-depth interviews, alongside other urban research methods (e.g. ethnographic observations), to explore understandings of, and experiences with, this technology or similar personalized mental health communication interventions, as users and potential users accept or refuse it.
Rather than taking the salience of particular markers of difference (e.g. ethnicity) for granted, the evolving social dynamics around, and changing salience of, different markers – as these shape identity, (dis)trust and adoption – will form a central focus of the research. The sampling approach for the study will be based on neighbourhoods, and you will be facilitated in this by existing databases and experts within the Centre for Urban Mental Health.
What are you going to do
Working with colleagues in anthropology, communication science and sociology, you will co-design and then undertake an interpretative qualitative study into emerging processes of (dis)trust and identification as these relate to new technologies, such as a chatbot intervention. In-depth interviews will be central to the data collection. You will then analyse the data you collect (using interpretative approaches – such as phenomenology / grounded theory) and write high-quality scientific articles based on this analysis.
Trust and distrust in AI-based technologies is an important contemporary topic and, in cooperation with other UMH colleagues, you will also apply for further research money with the aim of extending and further developing this research. One goal here would be to carry out similar or related studies in cities in the majority world.
Besides this research, you will be teaching for 20% of your time in the Department of Sociology. We place great value upon quality teaching and are keen to give you experience and possibilities to develop your teaching, thesis supervision and pedagogic skills.
What do you have to offer
You have:
a PhD degree in a social science, such as sociology, anthropology, communication science, urban studies, or psychology. The degree must be obtained before 1 September 2025;
a record (appropriate to career stage) of international publications that demonstrates the ability to conduct qualitative/ethnographic research;
expertise in doing interpretative qualitative (e.g. ethnographic) research in mental health/social care related contexts;
a sound interest in social science literature on applicable topics for this project such as trust, urban identities, technology acceptance, and mental health;
affinity with and some experience in teaching;
good organizational and communication skills;
excellent proficiency in spoken and written English;
sufficient language abilities in Dutch to conduct research and preferably an awareness of urban youth vernaculars.
You are:
creative and innovative in your work;
intellectually curious and eager to learn in inter-disciplinary environments;
able and willing to work both independently and collaboratively, across different academic departments (anthropology, communication science, sociology).
What else do we offer you
We offer a temporary full-time contract of 38 hours per week (1,0 fte) at the department of Sociology for a period of two years with a probation period of two months. The intended starting date is 1 September 2025.
